Unified Train Logistics

Unified Train Logistics (UTL)

Automatic train logistics for Factorio 2.1: providers, requesters, depots, fuel stations, cleanup and an overview window in one mod, built for high UPS.

Auf Deutsch lesen: README-de.md im GitHub-Repository.

> 📖 Wiki with pictures: github.com/Marcel1853/UTLogistics/wiki – every feature explained step by step, in > English and German, with screenshots. This page is the short version.

• Requires: Factorio 2.1, flib. Space Age is optional.
• Languages: English, German, Russian, Chinese (simplified), French, Spanish, Polish and Brazilian Portuguese – all but

English and German translated with AI, corrections welcome on GitHub.

• Unlock: technology “Unified Train Logistics” (after automated rail transportation and

circuit network). Upgrades: “UTL: Loading control” (wagon filters and job output) and “UTL: Network links I–III” (link a network with 1, 2 or 3 partner networks) and “UTL: Storage” (storage stations). The map setting “UTL features need research” turns this off – then everything is available right away.

How UTL is made

I had tried to build my own train dispatcher several times before – it never quite worked out. Then YouTuber fiftyshadesofgames was a bit frustrated with the other train dispatchers, and I thought: come on, let's give it one more try 😄. So I started over from scratch, this time with Claude Code – and with a lot of tests it finally came together.

UTL is written with the help of AI (Claude by Anthropic): the code and most texts – this README, the wiki and the in-game help. I (Marcel) decide what UTL should do, open every scenario and my own saves and test by hand before anything is released, so that as little as possible can break.

• Automated tests (run headless by the AI): self test with 161 checks, every tips & tricks

scene, the load test with 384 trains and an update test with a save from the previous version.

• How often so far (counted from the development logs, 18 to 27 September 2026): the self test

ran about 270 times, the tips & tricks test about 85 times, the load test about 90 times, plus more than 300 other headless Factorio runs (scenarios, update tests, checks).

• My own tests in the game: I start the scenarios and my saves again and again, check the

windows and what the AI's tests say – so far I reported more than 60 bugs and findings back, with about 35 screenshots. How often I started the game myself I cannot say – I did not keep count. Some features are tested less than others – the testing status above says which.

• The test tools are part of the source: tools/

on GitHub (self test, load test, tips & tricks test, screenshots).

• My PC is anything but a gaming rig: AMD Ryzen 3 2200G (4 cores), 14 GB usable RAM, no graphics

card (only the graphics built into the CPU), Linux Mint. What runs smoothly here should run on most machines.

UTL lives from the ideas and bug reports of other players – the more come in, the better it gets. Post them in the discussion.

Along the way, a Factorio modding skill for Claude came out of UTL: checked knowledge and test tools that help the AI write Factorio mods – not only train mods. It is public now: factorio-modding-skill.

Quick start

1. Depot: place a UTL train stop, open it, tick Depot.
2. Train: schedule with only the depot stop (any wait condition, e.g. inactivity 5 s),

automatic mode. The train must be empty.

1. Provider: UTL train stop, tick Provider, wire a chest (red or green) to the stop.

Inserters load the train.

1. Requester: UTL train stop, tick Requester. Click a request slot, pick an item,

enter an amount (e.g. 8000 iron plates). Inserters unload the train.

1. Done: as soon as the requester is short enough, a free train goes depot → provider →

requester → depot.

Tip: Shift + right-click a configured station and Shift + left-click another one to copy all UTL settings (stop ↔ stop, combinator ↔ combinator). Blueprints and Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V keep the settings as well.

Two station types, same logic

• UTL train stop: replaces the normal stop (can be built over it). Wires go to the stop.

The UTL panel opens to the left of the train stop window (tabs “Station” and “Values”).

• UTL station combinator: belongs to a normal train stop – wire its output (red or green) to the stop. Chest wires go to the

combinator input. Own window. Neither needs power.

Roles